Cooper isn’t addressing urgent needs
North Carolina is experiencing an economic disaster, one of the largest and fastest downturns in history. Our leaders should be responding to this crisis with great urgency. Gov. Roy Cooper is not.
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Opinion
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The festivals are silent, but we may now need music more than ever
Jens and Uwe Kruger, with bandmate Joel Landsberg, are three of the best string musicians on the planet. Jens and Uwe were born and raised in Europe, but, collectively, the Kruger Brothers play a brand of American music that’s simultaneously sweet, soulful, simple, and complex. …
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Cooper needs to own N.C.’s entire employment situation
On Monday, May 18, the opinion team for The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer called for Gov. Roy Cooper to take responsibility for North Carolina’s disastrous unemployment insurance system. “NC unemployment delays have been a disaster. Own it, Gov. Cooper,” read the headline for the editorial appearing in…
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How many will die if governor fails to reopen the economy?
“The relationship between unemployment and poor health has been well documented. The unemployed tend to have higher levels of impaired mental health including depression, anxiety, and stress, as well as higher levels of mental health hospital admissions, chronic disease (cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and musculoskeletal disorders), and premature mortality.”…
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We can’t keep our schools closed
The initial mandatory closures of our schools, businesses, and other institutions were not sold as eliminating the threat from COVID-19, either to children or to adults.
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Stay-at-home debate reminds us about the importance of trade-offs
All public policy debates involve choices among competing priorities. The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of those choices.
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Crisis may drive turn to suburbs
It is far more efficient to alleviate traffic congestion — and carbon-dioxide emissions! — by telecommuting than by running half-empty trains and buses at the taxpayers’ expense.
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Giving us time to realize what’s really important
Months now into the COVID–19 quarantine, we’re still probably some time away from a new normal, however that looks. But the forced quarantine and slowdown has given us time to see opportunities, reflect on what’s important and learn lessons worth carrying forward. …
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State unemployment agency subtly introduced a different claims count
Last weekend, the N.C. Division of Employment Security quietly changed the reporting of unemployment insurance claims, resulting in a significantly lower count of claims activity since March 15. DES introduced a count of people filing claims and emphasized that number rather than the number of initial claims filed. More data…
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How to protect N.C. energy consumers in the post-COVID economy
Energy poverty is a serious issue. Research shows that higher energy prices cost lives. In 2018 the U.S. Energy Information Agency showed that one in three families struggled to pay energy bills, and one out of every five families had to forego food or medicine to do so.